Kirill Kaprizov ejected as rivalry with Drew Doughty intensifies; Wild lose to Kings 1-0
Kirill Kaprizov was ejected and facing a possible one-game suspension after receiving a match penalty in an incident that has fanned flames in his rivalry with Drew Doughty.
In the big picture, the Wild lost to the L.A. Kings 1-0 Tuesday night, but the back-and-forth between Kaprizov and Doughty has garnered headlines as Kaprizov was kicked out of the game with just over 5 minutes left in the second period.
Doughty, who called Kaprizov "overpaid" last year, took a cross-check to the face from Kaprizov at 14:48 of the second period. Kaprizov delivered the blow after taking a beating from Doughty and the Kings – without drawing a penalty – over the first 35 minutes of the game.
Minnesota head coach Dean Evason noted after the game that Kaprizov was top-five in the NHL in drawing penalties last season, and those numbers are way down this year because, in his opinion, the officials aren't giving Kaprizov the calls that other stars typically get.
“He’s getting cross-checked and mauled — he’s frustrated, right?” said Evason. “We’re all frustrated because it’s not taken care of. There’s rules and obviously we feel that there should be more penalties called on a player of his stature who has the puck all the time. It’s not happening.”
Evason is hopeful Kaprizov won't be suspended, arguing that he hit Doughty with his glove, not his stick.
“I don’t think he hit me with his glove,” Doughty said, via the Forum Report. “I’m not positive, I didn’t see a replay, but it felt like a stick. I mean, the intent I’m pretty sure was with the stick. I played him hard right before he did it, so he was frustrated, and it happens.”
Minnesota had one power play all game, which Evason referred to as a "joke."
“Power plays. How about a couple of power plays for our team?” Evason said when asked about the Wild being shut out in back-to-back games. “I mean, one power play. Are you kidding me? And it was a token power play. It’s unbelievable. We don’t want to whine. But it’s a joke that we have one power play, and it’s for their guy holding our guy at the penalty box. So thank you. We got mauled at the end. We’re trying to score. We’re trying to get in and the whistle is gone. There’s no more calls.
“We’re trying to go through the neutral zone at the end and we’re just getting grabbed and held and bear-hugged. It’s ridiculous. Like, come on, we’ve got to have some balance to what we’re doing. You can’t go through a game like that and have one power play. There’s no way. No way.”
The Wild are back on the ice Wednesday night in Anaheim.
